The work of John Carney...

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 1/11/15 at 4:48pm

With Once recently ending its very successful Broadway journey, I was thinking about John Carney's films and wondering what the theatre community generally thinks of them? I saw the Once film and have read about his latest movie (Begin Again), and they both appeared to be cut from the same formula- an unlikely musical pairing...etc....

Is that true? Does Carney recycle the same plot and style, and does it work better onscreen or onstage?

Thanks in advance for your input.

[haterobics]

Posted: 1/11/15 at 10:46pm

I don't know that you can accuse Once and Began Again of "recycling the same plot and style," seeing as the only similarity is that they both contain characters who make music. I thought Begin Again was one of best movies of the year, and enjoyed it immensely. I also loved Once, a lot, too. But aside from them featuring music and being created by the same guy, they have little in common.

Of course, having watched both films before forming an opinion is cheating on my part, I'm aware

His stories are not overly complex, which does make them good for adaptation to the stage, but since Carney wasn't involved in the stage adaptation, I'd say his style works best onscreen, since that is the only version he worked on.

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 1/11/15 at 10:55pm

Haterobics, don't get me wrong- I wasn't accusing Begin Again of being too similar. I only said the films LOOKED similar based on my first impressions. I knew I could very well be mistaken!

And I'm glad someone who HAS seen them both was able to answer my inquiry intelligently- thank you.

[haterobics]

Posted: 1/11/15 at 11:02pm

No worries, I just watched Begin Again over the Christmas holiday and was very taken by it...

Not to mention, Carney was the bass player in The Frames, the same band Glen Hansard from Once played in, as well, so his inclusion of music comes from his previous background as a musician. So, he probably includes music for that reason, since he already knows a lot about it.

[willep]

Posted: 1/12/15 at 1:50am

I'm a big fan of both, but I would say that, yes, there are similarities. Both are about a guy and a girl who are hitting rock bottom but find each other and their creativity is ignited by the other and *spoiler?* they don't get together at the end in either one (I have to say, the moment where they almost kissed in Begin Again just felt so forced). But the journeys are different, the characters are different, and I very much enjoyed both.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 1/12/15 at 9:09am

Begin Again is nothing like Once. At all.

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 1/12/15 at 11:58am

This is great to know. It's really wonderful that Carney was able to make two original music-based movies without the slightest hint of "one trick ponying," so to speak. I'm definitely going to keep my eye out for his future work.